Principal's stick topic of hours-long hearing Monday

BATON ROUGE - An administrative judge will rule within the next ten days on firing of an East Baton Rouge Parish School System principal.

Calvin Nicholas and his attorney, Jill Craft, argued against Superintendent Warren Drake at a hearing Monday. The hearing lasted the entire day and featured Nicholas talking about methods to deter violence at schools and Drake discussing school rules. Nicholas was fired after video surfaced showing him using a stick to hit a student while trying to break up a fight.

Nothing resulted from the hours-long hearing Monday. But, a decision will be made by the presiding judge soon.

Previously, Nicholas said he used the stick to keep order at a school that was plagued by groups of bullies attacking other students.

"The district states that it does not condone corporal punishment. But, however, it does condone reasonable use of physical force when it comes to disturbances that may cause harm or injuries to others. That fits right along the bylaws of what happened," Nicholas said in an interview with WBRZ in September. "The stick was totally used to gain his attention."

Drake maintained at the hearing, a stick was not an acceptable way to manage combative teenagers.